City-County Building
Common Council

Week of August 31st.

posted 

Dear District 16 Neighbors, 

I hope that you are doing well and enjoying these last few weeks of summer.

Earlier this week, I joined Council President Sabrina Madison and a number of my fellow alders and city staff for a tour of the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park. The new facility is truly incredible, with increased meeting and classroom space, public art, and more spaces for community gathering. The official opening of the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park will be the weekend of September 25 & 26th. 

Late last month, I joined staff from the Madison Sustainability Office and Streets Department, along with County Executive Melissa Agard, County Board Supervisors, and environmental leaders from across Dane County, for the ground breaking of the new sustainability campus. 

If you would like to learn more about the Sustainability campus and the important work that Dane County Waste and Renewables does, I would encourage you to take one of their free tours. I had the opportunity to take one last year, and it was not only educational but also eye opening to the incredible work that happens at our landfill. You can sign up for a tour here. 

And if you haven't already, be sure to follow our official District 16 Facebook page for additional updates! 

-Sean 

South Stoughton Rd. Re-Design Public Information Meeting

Stoughton Rd. Redesign PMI

Join me and District 3 Alder Derek Field for a public information meeting on the South Stoughton Road redesign on Thursday, September 3rd, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. During this meeting, staff from the City Planning and Transportation departments will provide information about the project, followed by a question-and-answer session.

The proposed reconstruction of South Stoughton Road is a project initiated by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT). Since this project could significantly impact the surrounding neighborhoods, the City is hosting this meeting to inform residents ahead of WisDOT's next public meetings this fall. Surrounding districts include 3, 15, and 16.

Date: Thursday, September 3rd
Time: 5:30 to 7:30 PM
Location: Robert M. La Follette High School Cafeteria, 702 Pflaum Rd, Madison, WI 53716
RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stoughton-rd-redesign-public-information-m…

Agency Budget Requests Submitted

City agencies submitted their operating budget requests for 2027 as well as their recommended 2% reductions, which were made available on the budget page on August 3rd. 

2% Reduction Proposals

The Mayor directed each agency to submit 2% reduction proposals. This does not mean that every agency will face the same amount of cuts, nor that smaller agencies will receive smaller cuts. The proposed cuts listed below are just that: proposed and only a select few. The Mayor will release her Executive Operating budget in early October, where we will see her proposal and which departments will face which cuts. 

  • Economic Development: Eliminate SEED Grants Program.
  • Library: Eliminate Sunday hours and reduce databases.
  • Planning: Eliminate the Neighborhood Grants Program.
  • Fire: Eliminate 1 ambulance, 1 CARES team.
  • Police: Eliminate the Traffic Safety Enforcement Team, Reduce investigative officer positions, Eliminate community outreach team.
  • Public Health: Eliminate six positions including a disease intervention specialist, preparedness coordinator, Health Equity coordinator, Health evaluator and a nurse. 

You can find the full list from every department as well as financial savings, which fund the savings are in and impacts on staff positions here. As a reminder these cuts are necessary because Madison does not receive adequate shared revenue and municipal service payments from the State. 

State Limits on Operating Budget: 

Municipalities across Wisconsin face significant restraints set by the state, limiting our income and expenditure authority. 

Expense Restraint Incentive Program (ERIP): 

ERIP is a state program that limits how much the City budget can grow each year.  The City budget can increase by roughly the rate of inflation. The state pays the City $9 million each year if we stay below the ERIP limit. We have received a payment under this program for over 30 years. If we spend $1.00more than the ERIP limit, we would lose $9 million in funding.   

Public Safety Maintenance Effort: 

Public Safety Maintenance of Effort (MoE) is a state law that was enacted under 2023 Wisconsin Act 12. Under this law, municipalities must meet certain criteria for law enforcement and fire/EMS services. For law enforcement (police), the City must annually certify that it meets one of the following requirements:

  • Money raised by tax levy and expended for employment costs of law enforcement officers.
  • The percentage of the total money raised by tax levy that is expended for employment costs of law enforcement officers. 
  • The number of full-time equivalent law enforcement officers employed by or assigned to the municipality, not including officers whose positions are funded by state or federal grants.

Failure to comply with Maintenance of Effort requirements will mean a loss of 15% of state shared revenue, or about $1.5 million annually.

About the Budget: 

The budget is divided into two main parts, the Capital Budget and the Operating Budget, and covers all city spending for one year (January 1st - Dec. 31st). The 2026 operating budget totaled $452.7 million, and the 2026 capital budget totaled $286.2 million.

The Capital Budget funds the City's major construction projects including building new facilities, improving our transit system, maintaining our roads and parks, and purchasing major equipment. The Capital Budget also includes the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Which outlines a spending plan on capital projects for the next five years. 

The Operating Budget is what provides money for running City departments. It pays for the day-to-day spending on employees and services. It is constrained by many state laws that regulate the income and spending that is allowed. In the 2026 Budget, the Expenditure Restraint Incentive Program was the main limitation to future investments by the city. 

For a deeper dive, I would recommend checking out this presentation on the city's budget process.

Timeline: 
The city has hosted a series of three budget listening sessions this year to hear directly from constituents about what they want to see in the upcoming budget and allow residents to meet directly with agency staff.  

Budget 2027 Update

Updates and Notices

  •  Opening Date Set for Imagination Center at Reindahl Park: Save the date for the opening of the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park hosted by Madison Public Library, City of Madison Engineering, Madison Parks and Madison Public Library Foundation. The Imagination Center at Reindahl Park is a multifunctional indoor-outdoor facility containing both a library and four-season parks pavilion. The building will open on Friday, September 25 with a ribbon cutting ceremony led by Library, City, and State officials at 3-4pm. Following the ribbon cutting, neighbors and residents are invited to an opening weekend of activities, including building tours, a how-to corner, nature walks, food trucks, a movie in the park, and more. 
  •  The Smart Trips Challenge Is Almost Here! With fall routines and the new school year beginning, September is a great time to try a different way of getting around. Bike to school with your kids, take the bus to meet up with friends, carpool with coworkers, or walk/roll for a nearby errand. These options can help you save money, add some activity to your day, and reduce your carbon footprint. The challenge is free and open to anyone age 18 or older who lives or works in Dane County. Create a free RoundTrip account and log your eligible trips for chances to win more than a dozen weekly and grand prize drawings. Join the 2026 Smart Trips Challenge!

Boards, Commissions, and Committee Meetings

Note: This is not a complete list of meetings for this upcoming week. All meetings and their details can be found at the Meeting Schedule page.

  • Finance Committee: The Finance Committee meeting will take place on Monday, August 31, at 4:30 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items of interest include: 
    • Item #14 - Amending the 2026 Economic Development Division (EDD) Operating Budget by transferring $200,000 from contingent reserve and $75,000 from other agency budgets to EDD and authorizing intra-departmental transfers within EDD, approving program materials, and authorizing the Economic Development Division to administer a Williamson Street Business Stabilization Support Program.  
    • Item #15 - Amending the 2026 adopted operating budget by transferring $28,500 from the contingent reserve to the Office of the Independent Monitor for additional staffing and services costs, and directing staff to provide a full accounting of costs associated with the City's critical incident response between July 22, 2026 and September 8, 2026. 
    • Item #16 - Update on 2026 General Fund Projections 
    • Meeting Details
    • Meeting Agenda
    • Register for Public Comment
    • Watch Online 
  • Plan Commission: The Plan Commission meeting will take place on Monday, August 31, at 5:30 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include development-related requests in Districts 1, 2, 3, 6, 10, 15, and 20.

If you would like more information about becoming a member of the City board, commission, or committee, please visit the page linked here.

Public Information Meetings (PIMs)

Announcements and News Releases

Please visit the City news webpage to find additional news and announcements and to subscribe to receive notification of news releases as they are posted.

Events

Additional upcoming events can also be found on the City events calendar.

Categories:

Tags:

Was this page helpful to you? * required
Portrait of Alder Sean O'Brien

Alder Sean O'Brien

District 16
Contact Alder O'Brien

Categories